We are in Luke chapter 24, verses 33 to 53.
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Luke chapter 24, verses 33 to 53.
Thanks, Nick.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.
Heavenly Father, we pray in the name of Jesus who has risen,
who has ascended, and who is now seated at your right hand.
That you speak to us from your Word.
That you assure us of the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation that he won for us.
That you remind us that we have been sealed with your Holy Spirit,
whom your Son sent after his ascension.
And that your Spirit assures us that we are your adopted children.
That your Spirit empowers us for life and service.
And that we are in desperate need of you and your help.
So please remind us of all these things this morning.
Impress them upon us deeply,
that we might be changed and live in accordance with these truths.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Luke 24, verses 33 to 53.
And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.
And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying,
The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.
Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
As they were talking about these things,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace to you.
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
And he said to them,
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a spirit does not have flesh and bones,
as you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,
he said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
and he took it and ate before them.
Then he said to them,
These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
and said to them,
Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer,
and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold,
I am sending the promise of my Father upon you,
but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
And he led them out as far as Bethany,
and lifting up his hands,
he blessed them.
While he blessed them,
he parted from them,
and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him,
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple blessing God.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Whether it's the last words of a man on his deathbed,
or the parting words of a friend that is leaving to a faraway place,
parting words are weighty,
because they may be the last words you hear from that person in the flesh.
And those parting words often reveal what is most dear to that person that is leaving you with those words.
And so here, in Luke's conclusion of his gospel,
this is his parting word to us.
We see Jesus' parting words to his disciples.
And the main point of this passage is this,
that Jesus is the risen and ascended Lord,
who empowers us with the Spirit to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And we're going to examine that main point in three parts.
First, we'll look at the count of the resurrection,
verses 33 to 43.
And then the proclamation that he calls us to do in verses 44 to 49.
And finally, Jesus' benediction, his blessing to us.
So let's first look at the confirmation,
this final confirmation of Jesus' resurrection in verses 33 to 43.
In the preceding passage we talked about two weeks ago,
Jesus appeared to two disciples on their way to Emmaus,
presumably their home.
And though initially their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus,
after Jesus opened to them the scriptures and broke bread and gave it to them,
their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
That's what we saw in the preceding passage.
But then immediately after that revelation,
Jesus vanished from their sight.
And it says here in verse 33 that they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.
Remember that they just completed a seven-mile journey on foot from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
And they had just told Jesus in verse 29,
Stay with us, for it is toward evening,
and the day is now far spent.
So it's late into the day,
and they're weary from their journey,
but neither of those things can keep them from the excitement of having encountered
and recognized the risen Jesus.
And so they feel compelled to report that to the rest of the disciples,
and they start marching back to Emmaus that moment.
It says that same hour.
And when they arrive, it says in verses 33 to 35,
They found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying,
The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.
To the surprise of these two disciples that were on the road to Emmaus,
the eleven apostles and the other disciples who are with them
are already discussing Jesus' resurrection when they arrive.
And they have found out that he had also appeared independently to Simon Peter.
And that appearance is not noted anywhere else in the Gospels.
It's mentioned only in 1 Corinthians 15.5.
And so this is kind of, it's here to show us that the news of Jesus' resurrection
is now starting to go viral.
Everybody's seeing it.
Everybody's hearing it.
One report interrupts another,
and the excitement is in the air.
It's palpable.
It's really happening.
The Lord has risen indeed.
And amazingly, it says in verses 36 to 37,
As they were talking about these things,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace to you.
But they were startled and frightened,
and thought they saw a spirit.
Once again, we see that Jesus' resurrection body is a transformed body.
And so he is able to vanish suddenly and appear suddenly
in the midst of his disciples.
And this sudden appearance startles the disciples,
and they think that they're seeing a ghost.
But Jesus says to them, Peace to you.
Peace.
That's a common Jewish greeting.
Shalom.
But in the Gospel of Luke,
it receives a special meaning, a significance,
because the word peace is repeatedly used throughout the Gospel
and is connected to the idea of the salvation that the Messiah brings,
that Christ brings.
So, for example, in Luke chapter 1, verses 76 to 79,
when Zechariah prophesies about the birth of his son, John the Baptist,
and what he would do to prepare the way for Jesus,
he says this,
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
And that's why, often after Jesus heals the sick,
he declares to them in the Gospel of Luke,
Your faith has saved you.
Go in peace.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus,
he brings, he secures our redemption from slavery
to sin and death,
and he gives us peace with God.
And that peace means so much more than just the ceasefire
or the absence of conflict.
It's restoration to proper, right relationship with God,
to our proper place in the created order.
It means spiritual wholeness,
no more existential angst.
Knowing exactly who you are
and what we were created for,
knowing that we are in peace with God.
Do you have this peace?
Only Christ can offer this peace.
Because only Christ has triumphed over sin and death.
But at this point,
the disciples don't recognize him yet.
They're startled and frightened,
so Jesus says to them in verse 38,
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
At the beginning of the gospel,
Zechariah and Mary were both described as troubled
when the angel of the Lord appeared to them
to announce to them
the arrival of Jesus.
And now at the end of the gospel,
the disciples are also troubled.
And this is helpful to note
because maybe some of you
who are not yet followers of Christ feel this way.
You're troubled by what you're encountering.
Maybe you have doubts arising in your heart.
And that's normal.
Divine revelation,
when God appears,
it always interrupts the status quo.
When God shows up
and is present in our lives,
it disrupts our lives
and we are troubled
because we recognize
that if God is real
and He's present in our lives,
that we cannot live
as we have always lived.
Something must change.
You're being confronted
with the reality of God
in a way you haven't been before,
then it's normal to be troubled.
But if doubts arising in your heart,
I want to assure you
and I want to exhort you,
don't stop at being troubled.
Move on to faith.
Venture out to believe in Jesus,
to give your life to Him,
because then your faith
and your troubledness,
that will turn into joy
as we see with the disciples here
and as we saw earlier
in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke
with Mary and Zechariah.
Jesus says in verses 39 to 40,
See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself.
Touch me and see,
for a spirit does not have flesh and bones
as you see that I have.
And when He has said this,
He showed them His hands and His feet.
Jesus is telling them,
I'm a bodily being like you.
I partake in the same flesh and bones
that you have.
These verses demonstrate beyond doubt
that Jesus,
His resurrection was a physical resurrection.
It's essential to believe
in a bodily resurrection of Christ,
because if Jesus was not raised bodily,
then death will not have been defeated.
And the effect of sin
would not have been reversed.
In the genealogies that we just finished,
going through the book of Genesis
in our family worship,
and there's a refrain,
a haunting refrain
throughout the entire book.
It says,
So and so lived for this many years,
and he died.
And he died.
Why?
Because in Genesis chapter 2,
verses 16 to 17,
God had commanded the man
not to eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil,
warning him that if he does,
he shall surely die.
So you see the implications of that,
the outworking of that sin,
and that has had its effect
in all of humanity.
Almost two human beings
die every second.
150,000 people die
every single day.
And the surviving ones,
the loved ones,
have to live with the pain
of separation.
The grief.
That's the result of original sin.
So unless
Christ is raised from the dead
bodily,
death is not undone.
And sin,
which is the sting of death,
is not removed.
It's because Christ was raised
bodily that we have
forgiveness of sins
and assurance
of our future bodily resurrection
and salvation
in Christ
when he returns.
So after verifying
the resurrection of Jesus
with their own eyes
and hands,
it says in verse 41
that the disciples
still disbelieved for joy
and were marveling.
Their doubt now turns
into disbelief.
And this disbelief
is not unbelief.
It refers to amazement.
That's why it says
that they disbelief
for joy
and were marveling.
They were so overwhelmed
by the realization
that Jesus really is alive
that they're speechless.
And to banish
any remaining doubts
that might be there,
Jesus asks them,
have you anything here
to eat?
And it says in verses
42 to 43,
they gave him a piece
of boiled fish
and he took it
and ate before them.
This is not because
he's hungry.
The Jews believed
that ghosts did not eat.
So this is kind of
the final decisive demonstration
that he is not a phantom.
He is a resurrected being.
And having borne witness
to Jesus' resurrection,
Luke turns to the importance
of the proclamation
of this message
in verses 44 to 49.
He says in 44,
These are my words
that I spoke to you
while I was still with you,
that everything written
about me and the law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.
Jesus is referring
to the fact that
on several occasions
throughout the gospel,
he had already
explicitly predicted
his suffering,
death, and resurrection.
And he believes
that all of that happened
in fulfillment
of the scriptures.
The law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms.
That's a reference
to the entire Old Testament.
The entire Jewish scriptures.
That threefold division
of the law,
the prophets,
and the writing
or the Psalms
that it's still used
by Jews to this day.
And this is very similar
to what Jesus said
earlier in verse 27.
And beginning with Moses
and all the prophets,
Jesus interpreted to them
in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself.
Jesus believed
that all the scriptures,
not just the prophecies,
but also the laws,
also the Psalms,
they testified about him.
Similarly,
when the Jews
were seeking to kill Jesus
because he was
calling God his Father
and making himself
equal to God,
in John 5,
Jesus said to them,
you search the scriptures
because you think
that in them
you have eternal life
and it is they
that bear witness
about me.
Do not think
that I will accuse you
to the Father.
There is one
who accuses you,
Moses,
on whom you have
set your hope.
For if you believed
Moses,
you would believe me.
For he wrote of me.
But if you do not
believe his writings,
how will you believe
my words?
Just as the Old Testament
all point forward
to the personal work
of Jesus Christ,
all of the New Testament
point backward
to the personal work
of Jesus Christ.
And that means
whenever you read
the scriptures,
wherever you might be,
whatever point you might be
in the whole book,
you need to understand,
you know,
to understand it rightly,
you need to see
how Christ fulfills it
and how it points
to Christ.
You have to understand
that all of the institutions
of scripture,
the tabernacle,
the temple,
the nation of Israel,
the covenants,
all the offices
of scripture,
priesthood,
the kings,
and the prophets,
all the main characters
of scripture,
Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, David,
Jeremiah,
all the rituals
of scripture,
the sacrifices,
the day of atonement,
the Passover,
and all the commandments
of scripture,
all of these things
foreshadow and point
to Jesus.
Jesus is what scripture
is all about.
There's a story
that I'd like to tell.
There's a 19th century
British pastor,
Charles Spurgeon,
once told this story.
He told the story
about another minister,
a Welsh minister,
who offered
constructive criticism
to a younger preacher.
He said,
very honestly,
it was a very poor sermon.
He told the young man,
well,
will you tell me
why you think
it is a poor sermon?
Came the response.
Because,
said the Welsh minister,
there was no Christ in it.
Well,
said the young man,
Christ was not in the text.
We are not to be
preaching Christ always.
We must preach
what is in the text.
The exchange continued,
don't you know,
young man,
that from every town
and every village
and every little hamlet
in England,
wherever it may be,
there is a road
to London?
Yes,
said the young man.
Ah,
said the old divine.
And so,
from every text
in scripture,
there is a road
to the metropolis
of the scriptures
that is Christ.
And my dear brother,
your business
is when you get
to a text
to say,
now,
what is the road
to Christ?
And then preach a sermon
running along the road
towards the great metropolis,
Christ.
And,
said he,
I have never yet found
a text
that had not got
a road to Christ
in it.
And if I ever
define one
that is not a road
to Christ in it,
I will make one.
I will go over a hedge
and ditch,
but I would get
at my master.
For the sermon
cannot do any good
unless there is
a saver
of Christ in it.
that's why Paul says
in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2,
verse 2,
I decided to know
nothing among you
except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
Jesus is the subject
of the scriptures.
He is the fulfillment
of the scriptures.
So when you read
the scriptures,
don't read it like
you're just reading
another book.
You're encountering
the person of Jesus.
You're hearing
the very words
of Jesus.
That's why
scripture reading
is not a chore,
but a delight.
And then it continues
in verse 45,
He opened
their minds
to understand
the scriptures.
This follows
the pattern
that we saw earlier
in this chapter
on the road
to Emmaus.
There the two disciples
didn't recognize
Jesus at first,
so He opened
the scriptures
to them
to explain the things
about Himself.
And then later
He said that their eyes
were opened.
So here the two
disciples don't recognize
Jesus at first,
but then Jesus
opens their minds
to understand
the scriptures.
In verse 31,
it was God
who opened their eyes
to recognize Jesus.
Here it's the Son of God
who opens their minds
to understand
the scriptures.
And the verb
to open
occurs six times
in Luke's writings,
in the Gospel of Luke,
in the book of Acts,
and in all of those places
it refers to
when God
reveals Himself
to His people.
It teaches us
that only God
can reveal Himself
through the scriptures
and that apart
from His self-revelation,
we can't rightly
grasp Him,
understand His truth.
And here is
the most important thing
to understand
from all of scriptures,
the heart of it all,
verses 46 to 47,
Thus it is written
that the Christ
should suffer
and on the third day
rise from the dead
and that repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins
should be proclaimed
in His name
to all nations
beginning from Jerusalem.
The main outline
of God's salvation plan
can be seen
in the three main verbs
used in these verses.
First,
that the Christ
should suffer
and on the third day
rise
and that in response
to all this
we are to proclaim
this good news.
First,
it was necessary
for Jesus
to suffer.
Hebrews chapter 2
verse 9
says that Jesus
had to endure
the suffering
of death
so that by the grace
of God
He might taste death
for everyone.
In dying on the cross,
Jesus bore the penalty
of sin
on behalf
of all those
who put their trust
in Him.
There is no
alternative form
of atonement.
There is no other way
of salvation.
No amount of
self-flagellation
or penance
can atone
for our sins.
No amount
of good works,
community service,
or charitable giving
can atone
for our sins
because as Romans 6
23 says,
the wages of sin
is death
that is the only
penalty
that meets
the crime,
the sin
against an eternal
infinitely worthy
being.
And as sinners
on death row,
our only hope
for salvation
is the substitutionary
death of Jesus
on the cross.
That was the first thing.
Second,
it was necessary
for Jesus to rise.
As I mentioned earlier,
unless Jesus
is raised
from the dead,
death is not undone
and sin
is not dealt with.
And so it's
Jesus' death
and resurrection
together
that make possible
our repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins.
The Greek word
that's translated
as repentance
literally means
change of mind.
But it also
implies
the change
of life
that every
true change
of mind
brings about.
That's why
in Luke chapter 3
verse 8,
John the Baptist
exhorts the Jews
this way,
saying,
bear fruits
in keeping
with repentance.
And that's why
in Hebrews 6
verse 1
says,
repentance
from dead works
and faith
toward God.
To repent
is to turn away
from your own ways,
your own autonomy,
your own sovereignty,
your own rebellion
against God,
your own sins,
and to turn
toward God
in faith
and say,
now He is my King
and I will live
for Him.
That's repentance
and faith.
You can think
about it this way,
imagine that someone
on the road
asks you for directions
and you tell them,
well actually
you got to go
this way.
And then they go,
oh thank you so much,
I was actually
headed the wrong way,
if it weren't for you
I would have never
gotten to my destination,
thank you so much.
And then,
right after you start
leaving,
they turn around
and keep going
the wrong way.
I mean,
at that point
it would be fair
to ask yourself,
was this person
just being nice to me
and didn't believe me
at all?
Or did he not
understand
when I was pointing
and saying
you have to go that way?
Right?
Because if that person
really had a change
in mind,
he would have had
a change in direction
in the way he was going.
So repentance
is a change of mind
but it's a change of mind
that is genuine
that leads to a change,
a reorientation
of your life.
And if your life
has not been reoriented
around Christ
and his purposes
and priorities
for your life,
then you have not
truly repented
and believed.
There are many
so-called Christians
who say
they are Christians
but who have not
truly repented
that bring
disrepute
to the name
of Christ.
And the third thing
that's mentioned here
is that this good news
of Jesus' death
and resurrection,
the repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins
should be
proclaimed.
The gospel
is good news.
It is not
a good feeling
to be experienced
or a good work
that we have to do.
It's a good news
that needs
to be proclaimed.
Yes,
the people of this world
need clean water,
they need healing,
they need medicine,
vaccines,
they need education
and jobs.
These are all good,
commendable,
good work
that Jesus himself
did much of.
but Jesus
never
did good works
at the expense
of proclaiming
the good news
of Jesus,
good news of salvation.
Jesus never
in scriptures
does good works
without doing
the work
of proclaiming
the good news.
Never.
so what
if they have
PhDs
and health
and wealth
and long life
if they perish
forever
because their sins
are not forgiven.
It's in the
proclamation
of the gospel
that the world's
greatest need
and our unique
ability
as God's people
meet.
Theologian
Michael Whitmer
puts it this way
in one of his books.
Imagine a doctor
who enters
a hospital room
with the cure
for his dying patient.
But rather than
inject the medicine
into the patient's
intravenous line,
he tucks the vial
into his cold pocket
and attempts
to minister
holistically.
The doctor
asks the man
about the stressors
that may have
contributed to his disease,
what his home life
is like,
how things are going
at work
and whether he knows
how to love himself.
Before long,
a shaky hand
reaches up
and clutches
the doctor's collar.
Listen, doc.
Save the chit-chat
for some other time.
Did you bring
the cure?
Brothers and sisters,
we have
the cure.
all of our
psychological ills,
all of our
social ills,
all of our
physical ills,
they are all
strange fruits
that grow
on the tree
of sinful humanity.
And Jesus
is the only one
who can save us
from sin,
give us forgiveness
for sins.
Jesus is the only way,
the truth,
and the life.
no one comes
to the Father
except through him.
And people
who have not
heard the good news
never will repent
of their sins.
You have
family members,
neighbors,
friends,
co-workers
who need
to hear
the good news
of Jesus Christ.
our church,
we should be
consumed
by this seal.
That's why
we must go.
Jesus says
that this message
should be proclaimed
in his name
to all nations
beginning from
Jerusalem.
In the gospel
of Luke,
the geographic
trajectory of
the entire gospel
of Jesus
and his disciples
is toward
Jerusalem.
That's where
it ends.
But then
in the book
of Acts,
Luke's sequel,
the geographic
trajectory of
Jesus' apostles
is from
Jerusalem
to the ends
of the earth.
I've mentioned
to you before
the research
published by
the Center
for the Study
of Global
Christianity.
They chronicle
the shifts
in the gravitational
center of
Christianity
from 30 A.D.
to the present
day.
It began,
of course,
in Jerusalem
30 A.D.
to what is now
Istanbul
around 1000 A.D.
and then to
Budapest,
Hungary by 1500,
Madrid,
Spain by 1900,
and then now
to Niger,
Africa.
That's the
gravitational center
of Christianity
today.
Today,
seven of the
top ten
countries with
the largest
Christian populations
are in Africa,
Asia,
and South America.
Christianity
is not a
Jewish religion.
It is not a
Western religion.
It is not an
American religion
religion.
Because our
God is God
overall.
And he
commended that
this should be
proclaimed among
all the nations.
And when we
go, we don't
go in our
name for our
selfish gain.
We don't go in
the name of a
corporation.
We don't go in
the name of a
country.
We don't go to
export our
products and to
establish our
governing structures
and cultures.
It is written
in Scripture
that repentance
for the
forgiveness of
sins should be
proclaimed in
His name.
In the name of
Christ.
Proclaiming the
gospel in Jesus'
name is a major
theme in the
book of Acts.
And it points to
Christ's authority.
When you act in
someone's name,
you act as His
representative and
under His
authority.
This is why
missionaries are
not the same as
colonists.
A colonist serves
the interests of
an earthly king.
A missionary
serves the interests
of a heavenly
king.
Colonists go in
the name of the
British Empire or
the Spanish Empire,
the French Empire,
the American
Empire.
But missionaries
go in the name of
the kingdom of
God.
The Christians'
primary allegiance
is not to a
country or to a
company but to
Christ.
And so when their
interests contradict
the interests of
Christ, we must
obey God rather
than men.
Because we go in
Christ's name to
proclaim the good
news of repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins and you
are witnesses,
says in verse 48.
You are witnesses of
these things.
Witnesses are not
supposed to fabricate
anything, conjure up
something.
They're supposed to
report what they have
seen and heard and
that's the calling of
Christians.
To witness to the
person and work of
Jesus Christ whom we
know, whom we have
experienced, whom we
have heard in the
word of God.
And as Jesus
commissions his
disciples, he gives
them this promise in
verse 49.
And behold, I am
sending the promise of
my Father upon you, but
stay in the city until
you are clothed with
power from on high.
This is a promise of
the Holy Spirit.
That's confirmed by
Acts 1.8.
Jesus says to his
disciples, you will
receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come
upon you and you
will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria
and to the end of the
earth.
This is the
fulfillment of the
Old Testament
scriptures.
One of the saddest
verses in all of
scripture is Ezekiel
chapter 10, verse 18
and 19, where
prophet Ezekiel
describes the
departure of God's
glory from his
temple in Jerusalem.
It says, then the
glory of the Lord
went out from the
threshold of the
house and stood
over the cherubim
and the cherubim
lifted up their
wings and mounted
up from the earth
before my eyes as
they went out.
The glory of God,
the presence of God,
the Spirit of God
leaves Jerusalem
because of the sin
and rebellion of
God's people and
consequently Jerusalem
is overrun by the
Babylonian empire and
God's name is held
in contempt by the
Gentiles, by the
non-Jews.
But later in
Ezekiel chapter 36
verses 23-27, God
promises of a day
when his presence,
his Spirit will
return to dwell
among God's people.
And I will vindicate
the holiness of my
great name which has
been profaned among
the nations and
which you have
profaned among them.
And the nations will
know that I am the
Lord, declares the
Lord God, when
through you I
vindicate my holiness
before their eyes.
I will take you from
the nations and gather
you from all the
countries and bring you
into your own land.
I will sprinkle clean
water on you and you
shall be clean from all
your uncleanness and from
all your idols I will
cleanse you and I will
give you a new heart and
a new spirit I will put
within you and I will
remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and
give you a heart of
flesh and I will put my
spirit within you and
cause you to walk in my
statutes and be careful
to obey my rules.
And then after the last
prophets there was the
400 years of silence.
Jesus is breaking that
silence saying that that
promise is not becoming
fulfilled in my death,
resurrection and
ascension and I will send
this spirit of God to you.
God's glory will again be
seen among his people.
His power will again be
demonstrated among his
people and in the old
covenant God's spirit came
upon only on select
individuals for select
divinely appointed tasks
like building of the
tabernacle or the temple
to the priests and to the
kings, the prophets.
But now in the new
covenant every single man
man and woman of God
filled with the spirit of
God.
Not just pastors,
priests.
And that's why Jesus
tells his disciples to
stay in the city until
they are clothed with
power from on high.
This is really remarkable
that Jesus after
commissioning them to go
and proclaim this
repentance for forgiveness
of sins doesn't tell
them to go immediately
instead he tells them to
wait.
Wait for divine
empowerment because
apart from it your
proclamation is
ineffective.
We see this connection
between spirit's power
and the proclamation of
the gospel over and over
again in Luke's sequel to
the book of Acts.
For example it says in
Acts 4.31
And when they had
prayed the place in
which they were gathered
together was shaken
and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit
and continued to speak
the word of God with
boldness.
It's being clothed with
the power of the Holy
Spirit that leads to
bold proclamation of
the gospel.
Especially in the face
of persecution.
It's when the gospel is
proclaimed in the power
of the Holy Spirit that it
manifests saving power
in the lives of its
hearers.
We can't, though we
might try with all our
might, we can't conjure
up supernatural boldness
by holding powwows and
listening to pep talks.
We can't persuade
unbelievers to believe the
gospel merely by honing our
skills of argumentation
and eloquence.
The work of God can only
be carried out by the
power of God and so it
was necessary for the
disciples to wait in
Jerusalem for the promised
Holy Spirit.
And then after the promise
we witness the actual
ascension in verses 50 to 51.
It seems that some time
have, has elapsed between
resurrection Sunday and
ascension day because Luke
notes in Acts 1-3 that there
was a 40 day interval between
Jesus' resurrection and his
ascension.
So now, what's happening now is
some time after.
And it says in Luke 20, and
Jesus had predicted this of
course saying in Luke 22-69,
but from now on the Son of Man
shall be seated on the right
hand of the power of God.
And this ascension is a
fulfillment of that promise.
It means that Jesus is seated
reigning at the right hand of
God the Father as the great
high priest who intercedes on
behalf of his people.
It's Jesus' ascension that gives
us the confidence to approach
the throne of God in prayer.
It's his ascension that assures
us that we will surely receive
God's grace and mercy because
Jesus is at the right hand of the
Father interceding for us,
reigning in that place.
That's what Hebrews 4, 14-16
talks about.
Jesus is the risen and ascended
Lord who empowers us with the
Spirit to proclaim repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
But Jesus doesn't leave before he
blesses his disciples.
That's my third point.
Benediction says in verses 50-51,
And he led them out as far as
Bethany and lifting up his hands,
he blessed them.
While he blessed them,
he parted from them and was
carried up into heaven.
Look at this.
Even as he's being carried up
into heaven, Jesus is blessing
his disciples.
And the disciples respond by
blessing God in return.
Verses 52-53,
And they worshipped him and
returned to Jerusalem with great
joy and were continually in the
temple blessing God.
The word blessed is repeated
three times here.
The word blessed is so overused
nowadays.
I'm not sure.
It's so misused.
I think few Christians actually
know what it means.
To bless someone is to impart
good things from God.
In scripture, there are two main
types of blessings.
First type is the paternal
benediction, which is a blessing
that parents bestow on their
children.
The second type is the
ministerial benediction, which
God's authorized representatives
bless God's people on his behalf.
And when God or his authorized
representatives bless God's people,
it's a bestowal of blessing.
It's an impartation or a
communication of blessing.
When the people of God bless God,
it's an act of worship, an
acknowledgement that God is the
most blessed one.
So a benediction, when we receive it,
it's not a prayer.
It's a pronouncement.
When a pastor, for example, at the
end of a service pronounces his
benediction at the end, it's not
prayer asking God to do something.
Rather, it's a pronouncement imparting
what God has already done and
promised for his people.
So you receive it with expectation
and full fulfillment of that instead
of waiting on it, seeking and
praying for it.
The first thing that God did after
creating humanity was to bless them,
Genesis 1.28.
The very last words of scripture in
Revelation 22.21 is a benediction, a
blessing.
And most of the New Testament
letters include at least one
benediction.
And here at the end of the Gospel of
Luke, Jesus ascends to heaven while
blessing his disciples.
It really reveals his heart.
It's like getting carried away and
he's like blessing his disciples.
So it reminds me of like a lover
that's saying goodbye to like a
beloved that's going off on a train.
He's like running up to the train
saying, I love you or something, you
know, because they just haven't had
enough time.
And say, God, it's Jesus as he's
going.
It's a blessing.
That's the last thing.
The last picture that the disciples
have of Jesus, his arms raised,
blessing them.
That's God's heart for us.
To bless us, not harm us.
Romans 8.20 says that for those who
love God, all things work together
for good.
Not good as we humanly and
imperfectly define it, but good as
God divinely and perfectly defines it.
All that God demands of us in his
scriptures is for our good.
Yet too often, we second guess the
goodness of what God's word teaches.
We question the goodness of God in the
circumstances of our lives.
Let me encourage you, whenever you find
yourself questioning the goodness of
what God has said in his word to you,
or the goodness of God in the difficult
circumstances of your life,
picture Jesus with his hands raised
high, blessing you.
That's his heart for you.
He's not looking at you with contempt,
with wagging fingers or pointed fingers.
And the only appropriate response to the
risen and ascended Lord is joyful worship.
It says in verses 52 to 53 to 3 that the
disciples worshipped him and returned to
Jerusalem with great joy and were
continually in the temple blessing God.
In the gospel of Luke, though several
people have fallen before Jesus' feet,
prostrate themselves to pay homage to him,
no one has up to this point worshipped
Jesus.
It is as the risen and ascended Lord that
Jesus is finally fully recognized as the
Son of God who is worthy of the worship that
is due to God alone.
So they worship him.
This is significant.
And just as the birth of Jesus brought joy in
Luke chapter 2 verse 10,
the departure of Jesus brings great joy in
Luke 24 verse 52.
And just as the gospel began with Zechariah
and Simeon blessing God in the temple,
it ends with Jesus' disciples blessing God in
the temple.
The gospel has come around full circle because
Jesus has fulfilled all that he has set out,
he has set out to do.
And now he is the risen and ascended Lord who
empowers us with the Spirit to proclaim
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Take a moment to reflect on that and then
we're going to respond by praying together as a
church.
Amen.